Through The Fire And The Flames
by Voice of the Shadow Realm
Summary: Halle narrowed her eyes and slid her hands from clutching at his shoulders to pressing her palms against his chest, holding him at bay. His heart was racing just as quickly as hers; she could feel it tripping beneath her fingertips. “You’re suicidal."
1. Chapter 1: Hunt

**Authors Note:**

_Hey there peoples. I know I'm supposed to be working hard on Tramps but writers block on that has still gotten me by the horns there. And I also announced, if anyone actually checked my profile page that is, that due to personal circumstances I wasn't gonna upload any more chappies or fictions for a while, but I decided to get this chappy up simply because it was clogging up my cell phone. Lol. I decided a long time ago that I quite liked the idea of Mello/Halle and I support my theory of there being a little hint to a relationship (possibly one-sided) due to the scene in the anime and manga when there was no script… simply mood and atmosphere before Takada's kidnap. If you remember, there was a scene where someone was watching Halle and Takada and my theory is that it was Mello. Think about it, Near, Rester and Gevanni would all know where she was and what she was doing and why. Not to mention there would be several monitoring devices on her so Near knew what they we're doing. Light didn't watch Takada because he would look suspicious and he certainly wouldn't do it from afar. Therefore my theory suggests that Mello was watching Halle._

_But anyway… Yes I wrote this. It is rated M for mature readers… due to instant Lemon. Yes it is a het pairing, I wrote a Matt/Mello yaoi because many readers wanted to see it in Tramps but Tramps is purely friendship, however only two have reviewed Thorns beneath the Roses. But anyway, yeah. Read and enjoy or read and hate… but always please read and review._

**Disclaimer:**

_I own nothing. I have never made any serious claims to the ownership of Death Note and anyone saying otherwise is… a big meanie and a liar face. _

**Through The Fire And The Flames.**

**Chapter One: Hunt.**

**_Halle ran. Her shoe's, neither heeled nor flat just sensible, clicked against the pavement in a steady rhythm. Her hand was inside her jacket, fingering the textured grip of her standard issued weapon, ready to pull it the moment she found herself needing it. It was dark now. Nights drew in swiftly in the early days of winter, and the air chilled considerably, making people less inclined to leave the warmth of their homes, the chill a shock to their system after the scalding heat of the summer days deterring all but those without good reason from the streets. _**

**_Good reasons… or bad intentions. _**

**_Her topaz eyes… an unusual colour, and likened to those of a hunting leopard, narrowed against the stinging wind that blasted her in the face. Her target, a man, darted around sharp corners and dodged around clusters of stationary cars. But Halle couldn't allow him to elude her. He could be a link in this case… The Kira Case._**

**_The man had just attacked and mugged a teenaged girl in the middle of the street outside the SPK headquarters. Even though the streets were empty because of the seasonal darkness it was an incredibly bold move, and with the eyes of judgment constantly watching, no criminals would dare attempt it under usual circumstances. Coincidence or not, it was either a stupidly bold move or he was under Kira's influence, a treat to tempt her commander out into the open._**

**_Near. Boy genius and detective. He was their last hope in this case. Their last chance in bringing Kira down now that his predecessor was dead and that his 'brother' detective had caved into the alluring tug of the criminal underworld. And as such, Near was to be protected at all costs._**

**_This was why she was tearing after an armed man now; she knew he was armed because he'd stabbed his victim in the shoulder as he snatched her purse. A purse. Hardly a reason for someone to carry such a weapon, and hardly worth the risk of inducing Kira's wrath._**

**_She took the next corner in time to see the man pause in front of a wall and toss his head over his shoulder at her. He was trapped. Cornered, and now the danger level had upped in this hunt._**

**_Halle drew herself up fully and faced the man. Her eyes narrowed and she tightened her grasp on her gun hidden in her jacket._**

**"_Drop the knife!" She instructed. Her voice calm and cold._**

**_The man made no obedient movement, he just turned slowly. In one hand he held the ruined purse and in the other… A 6 inch gutting knife. Halle felt her stomach clench hard. That knife was a specialist's tool, deadly and precise and designed to slice through flesh like butter._**

**"_I said, drop the knife!" She barked the order this time and drew her gun in response to the nervous jiggling of his knife hand. That should at least un-nerve him enough so that he wouldn't do anything stupid. No matter what knife he had, a gun was faster and more accurate; he couldn't throw it now without her dodging and firing._**

**_But then, why was he moving? Running at her. The purse swinging towards her, like some kind of medieval mace. He had to be under Kira's control, no sane man would charge someone holding a gun. Halle acted on impulse and brought her arms up to defend her face. But as she deflected the purse, she felt his shoulder strike her sternum and she toppled, landing on her back, gun spinning from her fingers and the man landing hard on top of her._**

**_Halle struggled. She kicked and squirmed and bucked. Tried all that she could to throw this man off of her but her elbows were trapped close to her sides and he was too heavy, she couldn't gain any kind of leverage. The man's stale breath bathed her face in a warm flush as he tried to maneuver himself to sit up and still have her pinned beneath him, pinned long enough for him to arc his arm back and slam the knife into her._**

**_She was going to die. Here and now. In this alley. She slammed her eyes shut as the knife arm began to fly, her blood roared in her ears… She wasn't afraid to die, she just really rather not witness her own death._**

**_The next thing she heard was a startled yelp and the weight from the man sitting on her was suddenly gone. Peeking through her long lashes she spotted her attacker, well the back of him anyway. He scrambled to his feet and turned to face down a slimmer, younger man. Golden blonde strands fell around his face in a haphazard way almost to his shoulders and he held the knife in a gloved hand. _**

**_She blinked hard and scrambled to her feet. She knew the second man, and knew him well…_**

**"_That wasn't very sporting now was it 'friend'?" The blonde drawled, a slight hint of an English accent slipping into the fluently spoken Japanese, the same accent undertone that Near shared only with one other, his fellow Wammy House orphan. Mello. The blonde gazed at the knife in his hand. "Heavy piece of weaponry this, where did you get it?"_**

**_Halle could see the tremble in her attackers hand, the itch to hold something deadly in his grasp… He made a wild lunge for the knife. Mello sidestepped it easily and snickered. "Too old… Too slow." _**

**_The man roared and circled his lunge around, charging again… And, again Mello slipped away, this time he casually threw a boot at the back of one of the man's knees, stomping hard and sending him stumbling to the ground._**

**"_Come on… I thought you would be more exciting than this." His light mocking tone deepened and hardened into one that oozed contempt. "Or is attacking defenseless women the only way that you can fight properly?"_**

**_Halle threw a glower at the blonde's back as he put himself between her and the man. She knew very little about Mello's history, only that he hated weakness. Perhaps that was why he hated Near. The pale boy didn't scream dominance and for someone as feisty and dominant as Mello, always losing out to such an inferior specimen, it was clear that it rubbed him the wrong way. But here, on the street, in a fight, he knew he was smarter and better equipped for this situation than his rival._**

**_The man flew at Mello again. This time Mello dropped the knife and met the lunge, hand to hand. He looked scrawny and brittle but Halle knew that his frame was more wiry and lithe than it appeared. Close laying muscles contracted and tensed as he held off the bigger man's advances, Mello was used to being the underdog and he took any path available to take control. Fair or not._**

**_The attacker 'oofed' as Mello drove his knee into his gut, dropping the man like a sack of shit… right to where the knife had fallen._**

**_Halle saw the man grab it and lunge back to his feet, arm swinging wildly toward Mello's collar. She tried to scream a warning, but her throat had closed involuntarily in horror… _**

**_The blonde expertly caught the wrist and, in a movement so fast and exact, locked the elbow between his own and his ribs, the knife dangled harmlessly from slackened fingers. To Halle's horror, the slackened fingers were due to the attackers own fear, Mello had pulled his gun and had the muzzle pressed to the man's cheek, directly beneath his eye. The childish stance had left Mello's frame, and the wicked glint in his sharp blue eyes had chilled to glacial chips. He now looked every inch the hardened ex-mafia second that he was._**

**"_Do not fuck with me! Do you understand me?" He snarled, the words slurring under a bestial growl. "Do not attempt to best me because you can't!" _**

**_A whimper snaked from the man's throat as Mello pressed the weapon harder into his flesh, denting the skin and forcing the man to retreat a little. If Halle could see the tensing of Mello's trigger finger from where she stood, then of course then the man could too. And she was every bit as terrified as the man was. She had heard Mello was a cold-blooded killer, she even believed it when his mob group killed off almost all of the SPK. But the day that he had shown up, half dead and scared on her doorstep, the weeks she spent helping him to recover showed her what he really was. A frightened and selfish child playing dress up in the shoes of a man that he could never fill. Not on his own._**

**_Halle froze as his finger continued to tighten on the trigger until she found her voice again. "Mello! Don't…"_**

**_Her voice died as the gun clicked._**

**"_Bang." Mello murmured, lips drawn from his teeth in a feral grin. Drinking in his captives fear and sneering at his lack of worthiness. The gun was empty. Not even a blank cartridge._**

**_Halle stared as Mello raised his gun arm and whipped the weapon against the man's temple with a sickening crunch. His eyes rolled upwards and he slumped against the blonde's mid-riff._**

**_Releasing the man so he crumpled Mello turned to face Halle and stepped over the prone form toward her. Without a word, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her after him._**

**_

* * *

__Mello didn't release her wrist until they were safely inside her rented apartment. "You're welcome." He said as he pushed the door closed behind them._**

**_Her eyes narrowed at him. "I didn't need your help."_**

**_A snort. "Course you didn't. And he wasn't going to fillet you right there if I hadn't have stepped in." _**

**"_I'm not defenseless. And I'm not some damsel you need to protect."_**

**_Halle started to brush past him but Mello spun her around so fast that her hands instinctively went to his shoulders for balance. _**

**_A smirk tugged one corner of his mouth, making him look almost predatory, like a cat cornering a mouse. "I know this. But you are useful to me. I'm simply defending my assets."_**

**_His hips jutted forward, pinning hers and rubbing as a boast of his strength. She suppressed a shudder, how many times had they replayed this scene?_**

**"_Can you still feel it Hal?" He breathed, moving his lips to nuzzle the sensitive skin beneath her ear. "The thrill of it. I know you still feel it, your heart is jumping around like a rabbit caught in a snare."_**

**_Halle narrowed her eyes and slid her hands from clutching at his shoulders to pressing her palms against his chest, holding him at bay._**

**_His heart was racing just as quickly as hers; she could feel it tripping beneath her fingertips. "You're suicidal. We could've been killed." _**

**_He grasped her chin in his hand roughly and tilted her face to his, leaning so close that his lips brushed hers as he spoke. "Could have," He agreed huskily. "But we weren't." he sealed his mouth over hers, prying her jaw apart and delving his tongue into the warm and wet cavern hidden behind a shield of teeth and lips. She moved back, more testing his reaction than seriously resisting him. His reaction was swift and expected. He pushed her back, trapping her over the back of the couch, hands sliding up and along her arms, pulling her hands from his chest and trapping them at her hips. Halle started to struggle in earnest, arching and wriggling, trying to slip away. Her chin lifted and the kiss was broken instantly. _**

**_Mello bit off a groan. Her movements creating a delicious friction against his crotch. Mello's fingers ghosted the curve of her hips while his other hand wrapped itself in her flaxen locks, twisting until her lips yielded, parting in a soft cry. His lips went back to hers, tongue delving and flicking against hers, invading and overwhelming, claiming the orifice as his own. _**

**_Halle grasped desperately at his bared shoulders once more, conflict in her actions as she both held him away, indignant at his brash behavior, and yet, she clung to him, begging him to tease and inflame her senses. His hips had worked their way between her thighs, and now lay flat against hers, angled so she was painfully aware of every last heated inch twitching within its tight confinement._**

**_A gasp. Hers. Mello's teeth nipped a little too hard along her bottom lip as his mouth began traveling over her cheek to her jaw, his nose nudging in encouragement before he moved along her throat, greedily nuzzling at the pulse point there and then trailing back up to nuzzle beneath her earlobe as his hands slipped beneath her shirt, gliding his fingers up along hers sides. She shivered and whimpered; her hands moving beneath his arms for support as her body betrayed her and her legs fell wider in welcome._**

**_One of Mello's hands abandoned her side and drifted lower, hooking the unused belt loops of her dress pants and tightened. The still thinking part of her brain screamed in protest and she struggled with renewed vigor, until his lips returned to her ear. "I won't force you Hal. You like to pretend that I will, but you know that I won't."_**

**_Halle froze at the tone of his voice. It was commanding and strong, but it was lacking his usual sneer. She tilted her face toward him, watching his half slitted eyes carefully. They were still cold. Still taunting. But there was something lurking behind all of that. Something haunted and almost lost. _**

**_Her hands moved to the blonde mans face, tracing along the outer edge of his scar, ignoring the odd plasticky and cold texture and instead, focused on tracing the sharp and delicate jaw-line laying beneath the ruined skin. Fingertips moving lower, brushing over the bobbing Adam's apple until her fingers found the zipper at the base of his throat. The metallic whirr slicing through the lust heavy air, followed swiftly by his startled gasp as her mouth found and claimed his collar. Kissing and licking as her hands fisted the vest from his body, his shoulders dipping one at a time, helping her to push the garment off._**

**_He growled. The sound rumbled from his chest and sent vibrating waves to her lips, her mouth tormenting him now. Mello rumbled again, his curled fingers flexing on her waistband as he drove his hips hard against her, eliciting a sharp whimper from her._**

**_He was so hard… so ready. And the waiting, the teasing and friction were driving him crazy._**

**_Her sounds. The whimpers, gasps and the choked cries sent icy fingers tracing the length of his spine. He shivered. Beneath him, Halle was also burning for more. His mouth came back to hers, hard and wet and demanding. Commanding lips and delving tongue acting as mere distractions from the movements of his wandering hands… Until the sharp sound of material shredding penetrated her fogged mind._**

**_Mello grinned. Her shirt hung open, torn from his impatient fingers; buttons were obviously far too advanced and tedious for him to bother with at the moment. _**

**_Halle pressed him away with flattened palms and aimed a dark scowl into his smirking face._**

**_Mello ignored it, his fingers dancing over the generous swell of her breasts, hooking the material that still covered them and pulling until they were fully exposed to him._**

**_Halle arched away and let out an indignant cry mingled with the undertones of delight as he ran his thumb over one nipple while his head bowed to the other, mouth working against the swell of pale skin. Her fingers twisted deep into yellow-gold strands, holding his mouth firm to her flesh. He snickered against the warm flesh, mouthing a wet trail up until settling over the hardened nub. And there he stayed, nipping and licking with gentle teeth and rough tongue until she squirmed and her breathing hitched. Mello moved his mouth back over hers in a bruisingly hard kiss, his hands catching and tugging at her dress pants, easing them down over the dip of her hips along with her underwear before pausing. "Tell me that you don't want this Hal. Tell me and I'll stop."_**

**_Halle opened her mouth to protest but the only sound that escaped was a soft moan of lust._**

**_Mello chuckled and lowered himself to his knees, skimming her pants down and trailing soft kisses over the newly exposed flesh of her hips. Dropping a stinging path over the curve between her hip and ribs, occasionally grazing sharp teeth over the inside of her thigh. Her scent assaulting his nostrils and dragging a long low groan from his throat. _**

**_Keeping his nose level with the neatly trimmed thatch of light hair as his hand smoothed up her calf, coaxing her to lift her foot and step out of her clothes. _**

**_And she obeyed. Without hesitation. _**

**_The movement caused her legs to part and expose her most intimate part of anatomy to him, only briefly, but long enough for Mello's nimble tongue to sweep upwards, along the cleft…_**

**_Halle's hips jolted forward and her muscles, both inside and out clenched. "Oh, God! Mello!" Her hands shot to his hair, twisting in deeply and holding his head still,_**

**_Mello's lips twitched and curved, his tongue still working her and his hand still held her calf, preventing her from setting it back down and forcing his mouth from the increasingly wet juncture between her thighs that enthralled him._**

**_Halle shuddered, her mind screaming at her in disgust, screaming at her for allowing this man, barely out of his teens, to taste her. For allowing him to even touch her in such a way. He was too young. Too wild. A boy playing a mans game… and he was winning. His fingers of his free hand joined his mouth's assault now and her chin dropped to her chest, watching Mello's head move as his tongue and teeth scraped and teased and his fingers flexed inside her. And worst of all, he was a criminal…_**

**_Finally, she had to pull him back up to his feet for the sake of saving dignity. _**

**_Mello grinned, a lazy and easy grin, swiping his tongue over his lips. "Done?" His tone was sultry and tainted with a hint of regret._**

**_Halle's fingers closed around the laces at his crotch and tugged him forwards, the cords slipping free. "Not done."_**

**_His chuckle died in his throat with a soft hiss as the cords slipped away and her hands pushed the leather lower, cool air sliding over his heated and hardened flesh. "More?" He panted as her fingers skimmed along his length, from thrumming hilt to reddened tip, stroking him once, twice, and then stopping. _**

**_They stood there a moment, neither moving nor making a sound. Then Mello's patience snapped. His hand batted hers away from his erection and he flung his tight leathers to his ankles, grasping himself and pressing close._**

**_Halle arched onto her toes. An animalistic sound dripped from her lips and she angled her hips towards him, his head pressing tight against her. Just one little movement… Just one._**

**"_Yes." She moaned. "Yes, more."_**

**_His mouth came down, his hands on her hips, holding her down as he pushed inside, burying himself to the hilt in one smooth movement._**

**_Halle was lost then. She let out a mixed cry of pleasure and triumph and submission. As much as she fought him, denied him, she always succumbed and she always regretted. _**

**_She wrapped one leg around his hip and pressed her face into the crook of his shoulder, her ragged pants and moans encouraging him, driving him into a frenzy. She could feel his desperation with each stroke._**

**_Within minutes Mello jerked and shuddered, nails digging into her hips before he slumped against her._**

**_Disappointment flared in her stomach, but when he shifted again that flare dampened. He was still hard. She chanced a glance at his eyes._**

**_Mello's gaze had sharpened now, almost predatory, clear from the clouded mist of frustration that this case had injected into his mind, inherited from both the case and the man whom he had loved so dearly who had fallen victim to his work. _**

**_His hips shifted again, more controlled and languid this time, lips slightly parted and tip of his tongue caught between his teeth. Hal's lids slid to half-mast as his movements fell into a calmer and smoother rhythm, and she darted her head to claim his lips again but Mello ducked it. _**

**_Her brow puckered and she tried again…_**

**… _again he dodged her. A soft cry of frustration, mingled with lust burst from her lips as Mello's hands secured her hips more firmly and he drove himself deeper, changing his angle and speed. His head cocked slightly and his lids slipping over his eyes until only a sliver of blue, almost neon against the pink flush of his cheeks, showed._**

**_Hal gave up in her quest to reclaim his mouth and instead, she simply writhed beneath him. Her most secret of sanctuaries exposed and vulnerable to him once again, lain in offering to this reckless young man, hell bent on his own ruin and destruction. _**

**_His mouth hung partly open as he held his hips to hers and simply rolled them, grinding himself inside her as he moaned and growled something that sounded suspiciously like her name over and over before returning to full strokes again. Hal tossed her head back and whimpered helplessly, unable to do much except for clinging to him and riding out his thrusts until she felt something inside her crumple._**

**_She cried out, burying her face into the side of his throat, teeth clamping scarred flesh between them as her hips rolled and bucked against him._**

**_Mello followed swiftly, spilling more than just empty promises into her, her calves held around his hips as he balanced her precariously on her rear, teetering on the back cushions of the couch._**

**_Leaning over her, panting, mouth claiming hers in kisses that gave the impression of her being his final tether to reality, Mello's weight on top of hers toppled them. Crashing down together, Mello still trapped and leaking and Halle still demanding more from him, her hips nudging, lips moving, hands clawing…_**

… Halle Lidner bolted upright, twisted sheets falling away from her naked form. She wiped the back of her hand over her lips as her stomach clenched painfully and a wave of nausea washed over her, chasing away any lingering eroticisms. A memory, resurfacing and taunting her.

She carefully extracted herself from the twisted and tangled bedding and slipped softly from the mattress, snatching up her silken kimono from the foot of the bed as she did so. These last few weeks, her sleep had been disrupted. Ever since Near had declared his plans to draw this case to a conclusion.

Something about it, she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was exactly that bothered her so about this plan, all she knew was that it did bother her.

Maybe it was something in the way that Near so casually tossed out that chilling declaration.

'To test the notebook, first one must have his name written in it…'

Rester had immediately launched into an argument; he had come to dote on the young and pale detective, whether due to genuine care and fondness of the teen's well-being, or whether due to his years of extensive training to protect without question, remained a riddle to all but the man himself. But he argued against his charge's decision regardless. And all that had accomplished was Near dismissing the man from the room until he'd retained his temper and calmly stating that anyone else who felt unable or unwilling to remain professional should follow suit.

Neither Lidner nor Gevanni made any effort to follow the senior man as he stomped form the room. In the time that Rester had been dismissed, Lidner had remained silent, keeping her eyes drawn down and away form her colleague, hiding the conflict clouding her golden eyes. Instead she watched Near, his back to her as he painted a tiny figure, a finger puppet, with amazingly skilled digits. A finesse that both Wammy boys appeared to have mastered, although Mello used his slender and talented fingers in far less innocent activities.

Halle shivered at that thought. Her kimono doing littler to prevent the midwinter chill from seeping through the jambs and seams of the apartment's French doors, permeating the carpets and furniture, spreading icy tendrils throughout the otherwise warm building.

As she passed into the living room her eyes caught the couch and her ears heated a little at the now fresh memory.

Every time, every Goddamned time he came into her little sanctuary, that reckless kid managed to strip away her carefully constructed walls and seduce her. Render her morals and prejudices inconsequential and play her body until she squirmed and begged and whimpered like a hormone riddled teenager.

She snatched up her cell and thoughtlessly entered a number that she had long since memorized. She knew that she shouldn't be doing this, letting herself grow attached to someone again. Getting involved.

This case, Kira, it had already taken someone very dear away from her and the way she was headed, she was lining herself up for it to happen again.

The cell buzzed, and she closed her eyes, imaging the receptive cell twittering away some generic and tinny tune, waiting for him to pick up. Her heart thrumming in pace with the ringing until the receiving cell clicked off and a voice took its place.

"Hello?" Exhaustion tinged the male voice but relief flooded her, she had to talk had to use his voice to ground herself again. "What is it?"

She took a deep breath, "You seemed pretty angry with Near when I last saw you. I thought, maybe you'd like to off-load a little steam."

A sigh and something was half mumbled.

Halle's churning stomach eased off a little, but it was still there, the unease simply lying dormant for now. Perhaps Rester could help her see exactly what Near was planning, and maybe, just maybe there would be a little path somewhere to stop Kira without losing anyone else to this misguided self-proclaimed God…

* * *

Note.2

Aha, there was a reason for the bold italics... was a memory/past event. Um yeah should have mentioned sooner perhaps that there was gonna be like instant smut...

Anyways R and R?


	2. Chapter 2: Cornered

**Author's Note.**

I'm back, after my computer contracted a virus and died on my, losing all previous work, including an almost complete BB one-shot that was extremely long and I was very proud of as it was a birthday fic. I now have a wonderful new machine, all protected and yay, but I do not have any word programs installed onto this machine yet, so this has been typed on basic Window's notepad. So sorry for the crappy quality.

This fic seems to have mutated from the original plots and details that I planned. It has been split into two formats. One being a past time line, one between Halle and Mello leading up to the present situation and one where Halle is dealing with the repercussions from those instances. Though the former events are not strictly following a chronological order alone, they fit with the shorter secondary storyline in the correct sequence... or at least, they do in my mind. lol.

So in effect, I'm attempting to tell two smaller stories within the confines of a larger project.

**Disclaimer.**

Not mine, I am poor. I can't cut anyone any cheques but I can cut evil suing lawyers with a blank cheque... meeh heh heh heh.

* * *

**Through the Fire and the Flames.**

**Chapter 2. Cornered.**

_**She was tired. Damned tired.**_

_**Her temples pulsed in time to her heartbeat, stabbing painfully behind her retinas, and her stomach churned with nausea.**_

_**Pinching at the bridge of her nose and massaging in a vain attempt to ease the migraine that was already clouding her senses, Halle Lidner stepped from the elevator on the third floor and strode purposefully to her apartment door.**_

_**The SPK had suffered a heavy blow. Almost all of the agents and Directors had been murdered. Mercilessly culled by none other than Near's rival and 'brother detective' Mello, in a desperate attempt to force Near from the Kira case inherited to them both from L. The whole action smacked of childishness, squabbles and spite between two siblings. Granted most ordinary children would simply knock down the others tower, or perhaps stomp on his toy soldiers, and be satisfied with that. Sitting back on their haunches and laughing as the other would sob and gather his blocks or bent soldiers up and scurry off to play elsewhere. But then, these two young men were far from ordinary.**_

_**Halle hissed a sigh from between clenched teeth as she considered the very real possibility that perhaps, to Near, the SPK were little more than toy soldiers, then Mello would be perfectly justified in the 'stomping' of Near's army.**_

_**Her fingers closed around the door knob to her front door as her other hand fished out her key. As much as she hated the idea, she was beginning to resent the pale child detective. He was supposed to be protecting his people, hiding their identities behind walls of falsities and deception. But obviously he had not. Near was baiting. Baiting Kira and Mello both, who in turn were baiting him and the other. To her, it was becoming clear that this entire case was had a distinct undertone of one-up-man-ship. A theme. Kira, Mello, Near and L. Each and every one of them, childish and spoiled.**_

_**She felt as though she were more a kindergarten teacher rather than a Federal Agent, and that notion left a very bitter taste in her throat.**_

_**Halle pocketed the key once more and gave the knob a sharp twist, the ferocity of the motion easing a little of her frustration. She stepped over the thresh hold and closed the door behind her with a careful click, dropping her purse on the small table beneath a coat hook mounted upon the hall wall. Cupping the back of her neck, Halle rubbed and dug her fingers into the aching knots thumping beneath her skull. A shower. She longed for water, bordering on scalding, to slough away the grime and the tension of the last 48 hours that strangled her muscles. With the promise of relief singing in her mind, Halle shrugged off her dress jacket and stepped gracefully from her shoes simultaneously before moving further into the darkened apartment, heading toward the bathroom...**_

_**... Halle Lidner, former CIA Agent. Trained in multiple firearms, skilled in negotiation, and sharp enough to think on her feet under extreme pressure and in highly dangerous situations. Smarts and skills at her disposal, she had never once found herself caught off guard.**_

_**It all happened far too fast for her deadened reflexes to cope and respond to. The air around her suddenly thickened with the tangible scent of smoke and musk. It clung to the back of her throat as she suppressed the reflex to gag. Someone was here, she was sure of it. Then she heard something crackle in the shadows to her left and she turned sharply, her migraine instantly forgotten and her right hand going to her holstered gun strapped to her ribs.**_

_**Her fingers never closed around the textured grip of her weapon before she froze.**_

_**Silver winked from the depths of the shadows and a cold, metallic mouth touched her forehead in a perversely tender kiss. Halle's muscles in her spine snapped taut and she jerked upwards an inch.**_  
_**A gun. A cold sweat broke across her nape. Someone had broken in so professionally that she hadn't noticed until she was cornered. Mind distracted by the promise of a hot shower and her instincts deadened by fatigue.**_

_**"Move," A resounding click as a full magazine was snapped into place. "and I'll fire." The voice was low, quiet but above a harsh whisper.**_

_**Halle just stood there sweating, mind racing. For all her training and skills she was helpless. Helpless because of a simple migraine. The ground swayed beneath her and her knees threatened to give way as her mind and senses slowly succumbed to the cold caress of panic.**_

_**"Wh-who are..." Halle cringed at the tremor in her voice. Clearing her throat she tried again. "Who are you?"**_

_**The dark voice ignored her question. "I've been watching you, Agent Lidner." It rasped heavily. "I know you are connected to the Kira case, you are one of the surviving members of the SPK, under the command of Near."**_

_**Halle's eyes widened at the mention of her commander, the harsh notes the disembodied voice took on at the mention of his name. She knew who she was dealing with now, and a little of her confidence returned. "Mel- nrgh!"**_

_**A heavy boot kicked out, hooking behind her knee and jerking forward just hard enough for Halle to drop onto one knee.**_  
_**"Not a sound, I will kill you!" His left hand came up and pulled back the chamber, loading the first bullet from the magazine before dropping limply back to his side. "So don't harbour any stupid ideas that your life is of any value to me."**_

_**Her arms shot out for balance, then she tilted her chin up. From her new vantage point she could see his eyes. Blue, light yet cold as artic winds gleaming from the darkness shrouding his features. His gun arm trembled slightly. Halle narrowed her eyes briefly, he was holding the weapon in his right hand, but she was sure he was left handed.**_

_**"It is you." She sounded almost relieved. Most probably because that simply meant that she was not dealing with the uncertainty of an unknown assailant. "But you're supposed to be dead. The explosion,-"**_

_**Her teeth clamped down involuntarily, needles of pain shooting to her temples and re-igniting her migraine as they scraped on the metal of the gun barrel that had suddenly been forced between her lips.**_

_**"I told you! Not a God damned sound, or I'll kill you!" The voice snarled, hatred dripped from his lips. She tried to lean back, retreating from the sharp and bitter taste dancing on her tongue when she gingerly brushed the organ against the barrel, trying to push the weapon away from the confines of her mouth. He smirked cruelly from his shadows and simply forced the gun deeper until she gagged. "I'll do it. I will. If you don't start doing exactly as I tell you, you will die tonight, do you understand?"**_

_**Halle felt numb. Ever since she had graduated into the CIA, death had hounded her. Always hung over her head like an ax waiting to fall. And she had accepted this inevitability, not with the single minded intent of the suicidal, nor with the hopeless despair of the doomed, but as the simple fact of life that it was. But that didn't mean that she sought out death. In fact, Halle Lidner did her best to avoid it if she could.**_

_**Now, with a gun jammed down her throat and a dangerous young man at the trigger, her mind was at it's clearest. Despite the rapid tripping of her heart she wasn't panicking. He wouldn't kill her, she was sure of that. If she was disposable, he wouldn't have hesitated in firing. He needed her and expected the threat of death to be enough to make her do whatever he wanted.**_  
_**And it was his assumption that allowed Halle's survival instict the moment it needed to rip down the fear that fogged her judgement, now what she needed most, was the gun out of her mouth.**_

_**Halle raised her hand, palm up, in a surrendering motion. Indicating that she was suitably cowed and would follow his instructions. She hoped that would be enough for him to remove his weapon. Hoped his arrogance would override his sense of caution and fuel his notion of his superiority over her. Slowly, metal was dragged from between her lips and his arm dropped to his side.**_

_**For a moment Halle waited on her knees for him to grant her permission to stand. None was uttered so she assumed he had no qualms to her raising herself to her feet. As she tucked her toes beneath her foot to stand, her attention shifted from the man hiding in the shadows to the floor, touching her fingertips to the cheap laminated hardwood.**_  
_**Preparing to stand, Halle lifted her chin to re-focus her attention upon him, watching for any sudden movement that might send her diving across the floor.**_

_**She froze.**_

_**The sinister and grinning steel mouth bore down upon her forehead. A scant centimeter from touching flesh and chilling her to her core.**_

_**"I didn't say you could stand." He purred. His entire attitude and presence had turned on its head, oozing malice and confidence now as opposed to the threats and the uncertain undertones. Her gesture that she would obey him had obviously been noted and appreciated.**_

_**He pressed the guns barrel to the underside of her chin and tilted her face a fraction to the left, inspecting her. Halle felt his cold gaze settle, boring into her own hooded eyes and feared that somehow he could read her intention in her expression.**_  
_**She turned her head away, chin sliding from the muzzle, bowing into her chest and letting her flaxen strands curtain her face from his probing eyes.**_

_**"That's better."**_

_**Halle drew her hands into herself, tucking her elbows in and holding them close to her body. Lifting her eyes but keeping her head down, Halle could only see as high as a pale swath of flesh peeking above the waistband of his glossy black pants, not that that was of any consequence.**_  
_**Balling one fist, she carefully wrapped her other hand over it, mindful of where her thumbs lay and that her wrists were prepared to take the shock of impact.**_

_**She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And then she swung.**_

_**Her fists connected and he howled. His hands covering his lower abdomen. Shit. Her aim had been off, her intended target had been his groin but the effect was the same. As his knees buckled and he fell, Halle lunged to her feet, pulled her own weapon free from its holster and trained it on his back as her other hand slapped at the wall for the light switch.**_  
_**She was momentarily blinded by the white fluorescent glare as the light bulb overhead flooded the hallway, chasing away the darkness and robbing him of his protective shadows. As her vision cleared Halle was confronted by the sight of him on his knees, gun held by an unsteady hand as it was raised at her side.**_

_**"You kill me and you'll draw both Near and Kira's attention to yourself. Fire it in here and the neighbors will call the police. Either way, it's not in your best interests." She warned, still training her gun on him.**_

_**Despite the artificial light that now filled the hallway, she couldn't quite make out his face. Features still obscured by shadows cast by his hood. But his white teeth flashed in a feral snarl. "I could shoot you and escape in less than thirty seconds and no one would have any indication that I had been here. The police would report it as a bungled burglary and Near, well, just how many tears did he shed over his other agents? None I'll wager. His head is so far up his own ass in this case, I'd doubt he'd even consider my involvement here. And even if he did, he could care less." He centralized his shot. "Care to test the theory, 'Hal'?"**_

_**He seemed pleased with his verbal assault, but Halle was already in motion. Her hips swinging round and putting all of her strength into her attack as her heel came down on his right shoulder. Again he howled, fingers laxing in their grasp on his gun as the weapon spun from his fingers. He toppled onto his left side, howl dissipating into a high shriek. Halle had never heard a human make such a sound before but she couldn't afford to dwell. She dropped to her knees over him, grasped his shoulder and slammed him onto his back.**_

_**His hood fell from his head as he gasped and there he lay, the infamous Mello, pinned beneath her is all his snarling glory.**_

_**As she leaned over him, gun steady at his shoulder and her free hand patting down his sides one at a time, the scent that she'd noticed prior to his attack slammed her full in the face. Smoke and overcooked meat. Halle's mind reeled, trying to place the pungent aroma. The smell was sickening and her stomach lurched and roiled in disgust as she finally snapped the pieces together. You never forgot the thick and overly sweet stench of scorched human flesh, and Halle had sampled her fair share during her training days, spending hours down in the cadaver labs and watching skilled medical experts, alongside their allocated undergrads, performing case related autopsies in search of evidence.**_

_**Mello's entire left cheek was blackened and peeling and blistered. The splits in the external layers of flesh curling away to reveal wet and red internal tissue, untouched and healthy beneath the charring. Halle's gut gave a rather violent pitch and she leaned away, vomiting yellowish bile and stomach acid onto the floor. She had seen examples of this kind of burn before, back in the cadaver labs. In cases of brief and extreme heat, the uppermost layers of flesh were incinerated but inner layers remained intact as the time span disallowed the heat to penetrate the body further.**_

_**Halle, having regained control over the retching contractions in her diaphragm, leaned over Mello's face once more only to discover that his eyes were glazing and his lids were flickering shut. He was fading, and fast, his body finally giving into the agony.**_

_**Halle tossed her weapon aside and grasped his chin as firmly as she dared, careful not to flinch as the scaly dead flesh crackled under her touch and the open scores wept their clear watery fluids as she tilted his head to her. His skin was still hot to the touch. "Mello..? Mello! Look at me!" She urged.**_

_**She caught flashes of pain bright teal, darting beneath his darkened lashes. He was fighting, and that filled her with confidence. She shoved herself to her feet and bent back down, grasping his right wrist and right shoulder and hauled him into a sitting position. Mello's lids parted, the rough treatment shocking him awake.**_

_**"That's it. Come on now, stay with me." Halle squatted beside him, dragging his right arm across her shoulders and jamming her left into his right armpit, hoisting him to his feet. "You have to help me now, okay?" She took a step and Mello mimicked it with a clumsy stagger.**_  
_**The short journey to the bathroom was excruciatingly slow and painfully strenuous. Several times Halle had to halt the entire progress and wedge Mello's prone form between her hip and the wall, adjust her grip and then stagger onward. Mello's chin rose and fell in irregular intervals, consciousness slapping him awake just long enough for him to swallow a pained gasp before his sudden drops caused Halle's hold on him to slip and repeat her alterations.**_

_**Finally they reached her bathroom, and in her relief, Halle almost fell through the doorway dragging the barely conscious Mello after her. For such a slim and scrawny looking male, Mello was fairly heavy. She lumbered over to the bathtub that doubled up as her shower cubicle, carefully balanced the blond upon her hip as she bent across the yawning plastic tub and yanked the faucets on fully and forced the rubber bung into the plughole. The water clanked up the pipes and sputtered for a few moments before running as perfectly formed pellets. She awkwardly made a few adjustments to the pressure and temperature, passing her freed hand under the stream to check the results of her fiddling. Cool and gentle rather than her preferred scalding and pelting. She hardly thought Mello would appreciate more heat stinging his already ravaged body.**_

_**Shaking her wrist sharply and flinging the slick colourless sheen from her fingers, Halle tilted her chin down. Mello's head drooped forwards, his lashes flickering faster than before. He was struggling now. His strength and stubbornness almost completely spent. Halle sighed softly. There was no way she could simply push him under the shower head's spray and leave him there, he wasn't lucid enough for long enough periods of time. He'd probably collapse and end up drowning in the half inch of water that now ran the length of the tub, then she'd really be up shit creek.**_

_**"I know I wanted a shower," she grumbled to herself as she fumbled with her holster and tossed it aside. "But I was expecting the water to at least be hot, and that I would be taking it alone." She paused, glanced down at her suit blouse, and sighed. It was new and tailor made, so expensive. She debated for a moment, toying with the button at her throat, then decided against removing it. "If you survive, you're paying me back for it."**_

_**Stepping into the tub first, Halle caught her bottom lip between her teeth as the chill pellets hit her back, seeping through the silken fibres of her shirt and stroking paths along her spine. And carefully, she eased the barely conscious Mello to join her.**_

* * *

Rester spotted her easily and quickly amongst the sparsly populated tables, not that he would have struggled even if the shop had been bustling. Halle Lidner was a striking woman, tall and slender, but firmed beneath her feminine curves by years of extensive training. Such a woman would not go unnoticed in Japan when the women were more delicate and petite.

She had selected a quiet booth at the back of a quaint little cafe. Not so far back that they would appear suspicious to an overtly curious customer, but far enough that their conversation would not be overheard. He approached the counter and ordered himself a coffee along with daifuku. The woman tending to the register bowed her head in greeting before ringing up his purchases, her eyes sliding briefly in Halle's direction. Rester smiled softly to himself as he noted the action.

Halle glanced up from her dog-eared novel as Rester placed his purchases in front of an empty seat, her lips twitching just enough for the motion to pass as a greeting. He shucked off his jacket, mindful to cover the gun hidden in its inner holster as he draped it over the back of his seat, and slid his legs beneath the table. "You have an admirer."

Halle's topaz eyes lifted from beneath her heavily lashed gaze, one expertly shape brow cocked at her colleague as she marked her page and placed the book beside her own beverage and plate. "do I now?"

Rester smirked and picked up his fork, cutting into the white dough of his daifuku and exposing the vivid red of the sweet bean paste inside. "Well you've created a little interest from the hostess up at the counter." He said, forking a bite of his confectionery into his mouth. "She kept eying you."

Halle shrugged and stabbed at a piece of her Ichigo daifuku. "Merely curious Rester. I was an unescorted western woman seated alone in her place of business. Now that you've joined me she appears to have been satisfied of her curiosity."

He laughed softly and placed his fork upon his now empty plate, all traces of the daifuku vanished with his final swallow. "Okay, okay. I see you have your 'all work and no play' mentality in place today." He picked up his coffee and took a sip. His face suddenly becoming somber as he lowered the cup. "So, what is it that bothers you?"

Halle picked up her iced coffee, it was fairly warm today for the time of year, held the straw daintily between thumb and forefinger as she stirred it once. "What makes you think that somethings bothering me?" She eyed the man carefully as she sipped her cold drink.

"Well, for one thing, you called me up at dawn this morning and invited me out to talk."

Halle paused.

"You're not a sociable person really Halle. You're usually all business. This invitation, it's kinda out of character for you." Rester's cool grey-blue eyes studied her for a moment, gauging her reaction before he continued in a hushed tone. "Is it him?"

She fixed the man with a level stare. Trying to maintain an air of calm despite the nauseatingly strong clenches pulsing low in her belly. "Him?"

Rester sighed. "You know perfectly well who 'he' is Halle. Is it Mello? Did he contact you again?"

Mello. The images from her dream, her memory last night, flashed up in her minds eye once more and the roar of blood surging through her ears drowned out Rester's next words. But she could read his lips clearly enough.

"You must inform Near if Mello has been contacting you again." Rester lectured wordlessly.

The pulses of nausea grew stronger, constricting at her throat and making her feel warmer. Guilt, she decided. Guilt because she had not informed her commander that his rival had been staking out the SPK headquarters the last time she had sighted him. Guilt because she had not told Near that Mello had protected her from harm that last time. Guilt because she had pushed all thoughts and responsibility, that she knew were hers to bear, aside and allowed Mello to touch her very core in actions that virtually cemented her loyalty to him and not her commander.

He had left his mark on her, and though no one could see it, Halle swore felt the brand of 'traitorous bitch' burning her from the inside out.

Bile surged up her throat. Kicking back her seat, Halle lunged to her feet. Rester followed, his face drawn and taut with worry. His eyes darted to the doorway as though he expected her to bolt. And bolt she did. Though, not towards the exit, but toward the bathroom instead. Leaving Rester alone to deal with the accusing stares of patrons whose outings had been disturbed by an assumed western couple and a silly little tiff, and the slow disapproving shaking of the hostesses head.

* * *

**Author's Note. 2:**

Okay, a few things to point out here. One, my updates have slowed right down due to work and that I'm undergoing some changes that are eating into my spare time. Two, I have been hit really hard by a problem with my jaw and have now got to attend consultations ever 2-4 weeks in order to discover how serious a problem it is and how soon I can go in for an operation, which wile involve something similar to braces but fixed to my jaw bone or them simply breaking and re-setting it. Hence I am understandably nervous. And three, I am currently sorting things for my trip to Anime Oasis in may, which includes ticket buying, clothes buying and finding a kitty sitter for Mana.

So I am understandably busy right now, but I am currently rescuing a I-was-lost-but-now-I'm-found fic with the help of saved chats and emails, along with finally tweaking the draft to the next Tramps installment.

~Daifuku is a soft round mochi stuffed with sweet filling, such as sweetened red bean paste. ~Ichigo daifuku is a version containing a whole strawberry inside.


End file.
